Huntingdon viaduct is major obstacle to A14 improvement

ONE of the main obstacles to improving the A14 has always been the viaduct at Huntingdon.

While widening much of the rest of the route might have been possible, the raised section was always deemed too expensive to tackle.

But now it appears its days are numbered, at least the part over the railway line and Brampton Road, after the Highways Agency confirmed its intention to remove it.

The structure is currently being propped up in a £7.5million strengthening scheme.

It will be at least 2020, when the new A14 is proposed to open, before it is due to be taken down, with traffic diverted on to town roads.

The old A14 will be connected to the rest of the network with three new roundabouts. Westbound traffic could turn right on to the ring road via Mill Common, left into the railway station or straight on to a new junction with Brampton Road.

Eastbound traffic on the existing A14 will come off at a new roundabout and follow a new link around Cambridgeshire police and fire headquarters to Hinchingbrooke Park Road.

An HA spokesman said: “The Highways Agency will be working with Cambridgeshire County Council, which is responsible for local roads, and the relevant local authority in Huntingdon, on the details for local roads as the scheme develops.”